Cole was pictured earlier this week slightly distant from his team-mates in a squad photo, an incident that sent social media into uproar.

This time Totti posed slightly apart from the rest of the team, pointing the joke towards Cole.

Cole has seen the funny side of the original photo this week, sharing jokes with his Twitter followers. The scenario resembles Cole’s ex-team-mate John Terry, who also became the subject of humour on social media following his celebrations in winning the Champions League in 2012, where he did not play a part in the final.

Cole moved to Roma earlier this month following the end of his contract with Chelsea, and has already faced Liverpool and Manchester United in friendlies for his new club.

Although the Italian language will still represent a challenge to Cole as he adapts to life abroad, it seems as if he has already settled well within the squad, with players not afraid to make him the subject of the occasional joke.

Dan Connor

Dan is a sports journalism undergraduate from Barry, South Wales. He is a club journalist at West Bromwich Albion and a weekly writer for The Independent’s sport section. Previous work for BBC Sport, BBC Radio and Manchester United has seen Dan cover a range of sport such as rugby union, tennis and Formula One. His expertise lies in Welsh football, in particular with Cardiff and Swansea City.